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SOUVENIR 

OF THE 


BATTLEFIELD pf BULL RUN 


BATTLES OF 


JULY 21,1861 / AUGUST 28,29 / 30,1862 

/BY 

H. F. HENRY 


Copyrighted by the Author 
I 9°° 


Manassas Journal Press. 




TWO COPIES RECEIVED. 




V* 


SECOND COPY. 


Llbrtry of Congro*% 
Office of the 

MAY 141900 

BeglCtor of Copyrights 

/O WO 6~ 



61702 


// '/r6* m 

Dedication of Monument on Bull Run Battlefield, June iA, x86i. 

[Erected by Gen. Gamble, of the Northern Army, in memory of com¬ 
rades who fell there, July 21st, 1861.] 





FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 
July 21st, 1861. 


OR a proper understanding of 
the movements of the contend¬ 
ing armies at the First Battle 
of Bull Run, we shall attempt to 
present to the reader a brief outline 
of the lay of the land in that now 
historic locality, and also, at the 
same time, something of the appear¬ 
ance of the surrounding country. 

Taking our position about one 
hundred and fifty yards in the rear 
of the Henry House, on the highest 
point in this pretty landscape of hill 
and dale, and facing to the west, we 
have a commanding view of a lovely 
little chain of mountains, distant 
about twelve miles, and fringing 
the horizon for perhaps a quarter of 
the circle around us ; then turning 
to the right from the point where 
the mountains disappear, and fol¬ 
lowing with the eye the line of the 


horizon, the range of view is bounded 
by a considerable forest which, at the 
first point visible, is about five miles 
distant, but, as we continue our 
pivotal movement, gradually ap¬ 
proaches until, as we finally reach a 
point with the back squarely turned 
to our first position, the wooded out¬ 
line can be seen not more than three 
miles away. Thus, standing now 
with our face to the east, we have 
in a slightly oblique direction to the 
left and about five miles distant, the 
village of Centerville, and in a cor¬ 
respondingly oblique direction to the 
right that of Manassas at about the 
same distance, both of which were 
points of the first importance in the 
memorable contest which we are 
about to describe. Now continuing 
our turning movement, we find our 
view restrained to much narrower 




The late H. F. Henry, Sr., and his man Friday. 







4 


FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUX. 


limits by wooded growths until we 
have completed the circle and face 
once more toward the west. Imme¬ 
diately in our front and to a distance 
of about one hundred and fifty yards 
extends a plateau, at the westerly 
side of which is situated the famous 
Henry House, now surrounded by a 
pretty grove of shade trees which 
partly conceal from view from our 
present position the stone shaft 
erected in the yard of the dwelling 
by a detachment of Federal forces 
under the conduct of Gen. Gamble, 
immediately after the close of the 
War, to mark the spot where the 
bloodiest part of that bloody drama 
was unfolded. Scarcely do we leave 
the yard of the Henry House before 
the ground falls away into a gradual 
descent for about five hundred yards, 
and terminates, in a direction ob¬ 
liquely to the right, in the valley of 
Young’s Branch, a tributary of Bull 
Run, while to the front the descent 
ends in a depression through which 
a still smaller stream carries its 
waters into Young’s Branch, In 
both directions the ground again 
rises on the other side of the depres¬ 
sions, but to a less altitude. Di¬ 
rectly in front of the Henry House, 
and distant about one hundred and 
fifty yards, running in a northerly 
and southerly direction, is a public 
highway leading from Manassas to 
Sudley Springs and beyond. To the 
right and perhaps four hundred 
yards away is the Warrenton Turn¬ 
pike, a macadamized highway run¬ 
ning in an easterly and westerly di¬ 
rection and connecting the town of 
Alexandria with the small town of 
Warrenton, about fifty miles from 
the first named place. In the valley 
of Young’s Branch, at the foot 
of the Henry House hill, the two 
highways form a junction, so that 
we find the Henry House situated a 
little distance back from the angle 
formed by these two roads. Here 
then was the first “Bloody Angle” 
of that suicidal conflict, the late Civil 
War, of which that at Gettysburg 
was the second. With this descrip¬ 


tion of the topography of the local¬ 
ity it is hoped that the reader will 
have a tolerably clear understanding 
of the movements of the two oppos¬ 
ing forces in that battle. 



Gen. Irwin McDowell. 

The principal object of the expe¬ 
dition which finally terminated in 
the battle of the 21st July, 1861, is 
explained by Gen. McDowell, com- 
mander-in-chief of the Union army, 
in his official report, as follows : 

“And that up to late in the after- 
“ noon every movement ordered 
“ was carrying us successfully to the 
“ object we had proposed before 
“ starting—that of getting to the 
“ railroad leading from Manassas to 
“ the valley of Virginia, and going 
“ on it far enough to break up and 
“ destroy the communication and 
“ interviews between the forces un- 
“ der Beauregard and those under 
“ .Johnston.” 

After the strong demonstration of 
Gen. McDowell before Blackburn’s 
Ford on the 18th preceding, and his 
discovery that the enemy was too 
strongly posted there to make it ad¬ 
visable to attempt to dislodge him, 
his next plan was to turn him by 
the right flank, and to this purpose 





FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUX . 


3 



ihe put his army in movement about 
two o’clock on the morning of the 
:21st July, Sunday. His entire army 
was divided into five divisions with 
the following disposition : The 
Fourth Div., commanded by Gen. 
Runyon, to remain between Center¬ 
ville and Alexandria to guard the 
Capital along the approaches by way 
of the Va. Midland Ry and Vienna; 
the Fifth, under Col. Miles, together 
with one brigade of the First Div., 
to be charged with the duty of hold¬ 
ing the enemy in check on the left, 
at Blackburn’s and contiguous fords 


between Centerville and Manassas, 
to prevent the Union position being 
turned itself on that side while Gen. 
McDowell was engaged in turning 
the hostile army on the right; with 
the remaining three divisions ; the 
First, less one brigade already de¬ 
tached, commanded by Gen. Tyler, 
the Second by Col Hunter and the 
Third by Col. Heintzelman, the 
march was commenced, as we have 
said, about two o’clock in the morn¬ 
ing, moving westward along /the 
Warrenton Turnpike towards J the 
Stone Bridge, a structure carrying 




















6 


FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 



;/v** 


Col. later Gen. S. P. Heintzelman. 

this highway over Bull Run. The 
Confederate army was at this time 
extended along Bull Run from the 
Union Mills, a ford about two miles 
from McLean’s ford (see chart), to 
the Stone Bridge, a distance of about 
seven miles, awaiting in anxious 
uncertainty the next move of their 
opponents. 

Gen. McDowell’s plan was to leave 
the First Division before the Stone 
Bridge to engage the attention of 
the enemy while, with the other 
two divisions, which he accompanied 
in person, he should leave the Turn¬ 
pike by turning to the right, and, 
under the cover of the forest which 
has been described in the opening of 
this narrative, should cross at a ford 
some three or four miles further up 
its course, the stream dividing the 
two armies; then return on the 
other side to the Stone Bridge, drive 
the enemy from that point and allow 
the First Division to cross and form 
a junction with the other portion of 
his army ; then with his forces thus 
united, to advance to the Manassas 
Branch R’y and cut off the connec¬ 


tion of Beauregard with Johnston, 
as we have already seen was his 
plan. On that bright Sunday morn¬ 
ing in July, therefore, about 6:30 
o’clock the echoes were startled by 
the discharge of a great thirty- 
pounder rifle Parrott gun, com¬ 
manded by Lieutenant Haines of 
Carlisle’s Battery. This was the 
signal agreed upon between Gen¬ 
erals Tyler and McDowell to notify 
the latter that the commander of 
his first division had arrived in posi¬ 
tion before the enemy posted on the 
other side of the Stone Bridge, and 
it was also the first shot fired in 
that sanguinary contest. Meanwhile 
the flanking movement continued 
through the forest, but the dryness 
of the roads was such as to cause 
great clouds of dust to rise as that 
host pressed on. These were ob¬ 
served by Col. Evans, commanding 
the demi-brigade entrenched on the 
other side of the Stone Bridge, and 
he comprehended at once that the 
firing then being directed upon his 
position in front was but a feint, 
that the real attack was to be in his 
rear. Leaving, therefore, but four 
companies and two six-pounder guns 
to oppose the passage of the Bridge, 
he marched with the remainder of 
his command, consisting of six com¬ 
panies of the Fourth So. Carolina 
Rgt., Wheat’s battalion of Louisiana 
Tigers and two guns, to a position 
on the plateau to the north of and 
some thousand yards distant from 
the Henry House ; there disposing 
his troops to the best advantage the 
ground permitted, he awaited the 
appearance of the enemy. About 
ten o’clock the head of Col. Burn¬ 
side’s brigade of Hunter’s division, 
with the 2nd Rhode Island Rgt. 
leading, appeared over the slightly 
rising ground in front and deployed 
in line. The firing had scarcely 
more than commenced when Col. 
Hunter, commanding the division, 
and Col. Slocum and Maj. Ballou, of 
the 2nd R. I. Rgt., were all wounded, 
the two latter mortally. Shortly 
afterwards the Confederates were 




FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 


7 


reinforced by four regiments with 
Gen. Bee in command. Gen. Beau¬ 
regard, in his official report on the 
battle thus refers to this incident: 

“The heroic Bee, with a soldier’s 
“ eye and recognition of the situa- 
“ tion, had previously disposed his 
“ command with skill—Imboden’s 
“ battery having been admirably 
“ placed between the two brigades, 
“ under shelter, behind the undula- 
“ tions of a hill about 150 yards 
“ north of the now famous Henry 
“ House, and very near where he 
“ (Bee) subsequently fell, mortally 
“ wounded, to the great misfortune 
“ of his country, but after deeds of 
“ deliberate and ever memorable 
“ courage.” 

Gen. Imboden, who commanded 
in that battle the artillery attached 
to Gen. Bee’s command, writes in 
the Century Magazine Of May, 1885, 
as follows : 

“Halting my men, 1 rode to the 
“ top of the hill, and had a full view 
“of a long column of glittering 
“ bayonets moving up on the north 
“ side of the creek (Young’s Branch). 
“ Glancing down the valley, I saw 
“ Bee’s brigade advancing, and gal- 
“ loped to meet him and report what 
“ I had seen. He divined the plans 
“ of McDowell, and asking me to 
“ accompany him, rode rapidly past 
“ the Lewis house, across the hollow 
“ beyond it, and up the next hill 
“ through the pines, emerging on 
“ the summit immediately east of 
“ the Henry house, where the beau- 
“ tiful open landscape in front burst 
“ upon his vision. He exclaimed 
“ with enthusiasm: ‘Here is the bat¬ 
tlefield, and we are in for it! 
“ Bring up your guns as quickly as 
“ possible, and I will look around 
“ for a good position.’ ” 

As Beauregard says in an article 
contributed to the magazine above 
referred to in its number for Novem¬ 
ber, 1884 : 

“Gen. Bee, generously yielding 
“ his own better judgment to Evans’ 
“ persistence, led the two brigades 
“ across the valley under the fire of 


“ the enemy’s artillery, and threw 
“ them into action.” 

Meanwhile the Union forces con¬ 
tinued to appear in constantly in¬ 
creasing numbers in front and on 
the right flank. The struggle grew 
fiercer. On the Southern side Maj. 
Wheat, commanding the Tigers, Col. 
Sloane, of the 4th So. Carolina Rgt., 
Col. Gardner, of the 8th Ga. Rgt., 
and Col. Jones, of the 4th Ala., 
were all supposed to be mortally 
wounded ; the first named officer, 
however, recovered. It was at this 
juncture that Col., afterwards Gen. 
W. T. Sherman, commanding the 
Third Brigade of Tyler’s division, 
posted before the Stone Bridge, had, 
in obedience to orders from the com¬ 
mander-in-chief, effected the passage 
of Bull Run a short distance above 
the Bridge. The ford was at first 
unknown to the Northern army, but 
during the morning a solitary horse¬ 
man, said to have been the Maj. 
Wheat just referred to above, was 
observed to cross the stream at that 
point to reconnoitre the position of 
the enemy. Col. Sherman followed 
the indication thus offered, and found 
that the troops posted there to guard 
it, had been withdrawn to take part 
evidently in the battle raging in the 
rear, and he was able in consequence 
to pass his command over without 
opposition. The brigade was then 
pushed rapidly forward in the direc¬ 
tion from which the firing was heard, 
and took up its first position at the 
Pittsylvania house (see chart). It 
was the presence of this force in 
their rear which obliged the Confed¬ 
erates to retire from the ground 
which they had maintained up to 
this time so stubbornly. Their first 
retrograde movement was made 
slowly and in comparatively good 
order, but as the enemy rushed for¬ 
ward with the impetus which vic¬ 
tory creates, the retreat degenerated 
into a disordered rout. They took 
the direction to the left oblique, 
around the base of the Henry House 
plateau, and were finally brought to 
a stand on its easterly slope, where, 


8 


FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUX. 


under the cover and protection of 
Stonewall Jackson’s brigade, their 
officers succeeded in restoring some 
degree of order in their ranks. It 
was on the slight eminence to the 
east of the Henry House and com¬ 
manding the plateau in front look¬ 
ing toward the west, where the 
reader was invited to take his stand 
at the opening of the present narra¬ 
tive, that Jackson had disposed the 
five regiments composing his bri¬ 
gade, and was calmly awaiting the 
approach of the victorious columns 
as they dashed across the valley of 
Young’s Branch and up the slope 
leading to the fields surrounding the 
Henry House. It was while Gen. 
Bee was thus endeavoring to rally 
his decimated and disheartened bri¬ 
gades that he directed their atten¬ 
tion to Jackson’s command, saying: 
“Look at Jackson’s men, they stand 
like a stonewall.” This incident, as 
we know, has forever attached to 
the name of their commander the 
sobriquet of ’‘Stonewall.” 

At this time the report spread 
through the army of the North, and 
was caught up and carried along by 
the crowds of curiosity seekers, etc. 
which had followed the army from 
Washington and were grouped along 
the Warrenton turnpike from Cen¬ 
terville in the direction of the Capi¬ 
tal, that the Confederates were in 
full retreat and that the day was 
won. This momentary success, how¬ 
ever, proved to be but the opening 
skirmish of the battle which was to 
follow. Jackson’s brigade, as we 
have seen, had already reached and 
taken position on the Henry House 
hill, and this was followed by other 
commands as quickly as they could 
be hastened forward from the posi¬ 
tions occupied by them along Bull 
Run, between the Stone Bridge and 
Manassas. In the advance of the 
Northern forces against the position 
occupied by the Confederates on the 
Henry House hill, the following are 
in general the relative positions oc¬ 
cupied by their various commands. 
The passage of Bull Run by Sher¬ 


man’s brigade was immediately fol¬ 
lowed by that of Col. Keyes, com¬ 
manding the First Brigade of the 



Col. later Gen. E. D. Keyes. 

First Division. This body of troops 
took its line of march to the left 
front, along the ridge commanding 
the stream of Bull Run, and, there¬ 
fore, occupied the extreme left of the 
Union position. At a considerable 
distance further to the right and 
occupying the center of the attack¬ 
ing forces, was Franklin’s brigade 
of Heintzelman’s division, together 
with portions of the command of 
Col. Andrew Porter, commanding 
the First Brigade of the 2nd Division; 
while Sherman’s brigade took a 
southwesterly direction, diagonally 
across Young’s Branch valley, under 
the cover of the rising ground to its 
south, until it had reached the junc¬ 
tion of the Sudley Springs road with 
the Warrenton Turnpike, and then 
ascended the slope along the former, 
which had a sufficient depression to 
protect the troops against the fire of 
the enemy until they had reached a 
point west of and nearly opposite 
the Henry House and about 150 yds. 
distant therefrom, thus constituting 
what at that moment was the ex¬ 
treme right of the Federal position. 
Let us turn to that portion of Sher- 




FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 


9 



C l 


man’s official report referring to 
what immediately followed : 

44 Before reaching the crest of the 
“ hill the roadway was worn deep 
“ enough to afford shelter, and I 
“ kept the several regiments in it as 
“ long as possible ; but when the 
“ Wisconsin Second was abreast of 
“ the enemy, by order of Maj. Wads- 
“ worth, of Gen. McDowell’s staff, 
“ I ordered it to leave the roadway 
“ by the left Hank and to attack the 
“ enemy. This regiment ascended 
“ to the brow of the hill steadily, 
“ received the severe fire of the 
44 enemy, returned it with spirit, 
44 and advanced delivering its fire. 
“ This regiment is uniformed in gray 
“ cloth, almost identical with that 
“ of the great bulk of the secession 
44 army, and when the regiment fled 
“ in confusion and retreated toward 
44 the road, there was a universal 
44 cry that they were being fired 
44 upon by our own men. The regi- 
44 ment rallied again, passed the 
44 brow of the hill a second time, 
44 and was again repulsed in disor- 
44 der. By this time the New York 
“ Seventy-ninth had closed up, and 
44 in like manner it was ordered to 


44 cross the brow of the hill and 
4 4 drive the enemy from cover. It 
44 was impossible to get a good 
44 view of the ground. In it there 
44 was one battery of artillery, 
44 which poured an incessant fire 
44 upon our advancing column, and 
44 the ground was irregular, with 
44 small clusters of pines, affording 
44 shelter, of which the enemy took 
44 good advantage. The fire of 
44 rifles and musketry was very 
44 severe. The Seventy-ninth, 
44 headed by its colonel (Came- 
44 ron), charged across the hill, 
44 and for a short time the con- 
44 test was severe. They rallied 
44 several times under fire, but 
44 finally broke and gained the 
44 cover of the hill. This left the 
44 field open to the New York Six- 
44 ty-ninth, Col. Corcoran, who, in 
44 his turn, led his regiment over 
the crest, and had in full open 
view the ground so severely con- 
44 tested. The firing was very se- 
44 vere, and the roar of cannon, 
44 musketry and rifles incessant. It 
44 was manifest the enemy was here 
44 in great force, far superior to us 
44 at that point. The Sixty-ninth 
44 held the ground for some time, 
44 but finally fell back in disorder.” 

The fall of the gallant Col. Cam¬ 
eron, of the New York Seventy- 
ninth (known as the Highlanders), 
is thus described in a letter written 
by Capt. Ellis, of that regiment, to 
his lieutenant colonel who was not 
present during that battle : 

44 When near the top (of the Henry 
44 hill), we were met by most de- 
44 struct!ve volleys of cannon and 
small arms. But the regiment 
44 stood its ground. Compelled at 
44 length to seek the cover of the 
44 hillside to reform our decimated 
44 ranks, Col. Cameron endeavored 
44 to obtain ammunition to work five 
44 guns of Ricketts’ (?) battery, which 
“ were lying useless, as horses and 
44 gunners were slain. Not succeed- 
44 ing in this, he again rushed into 
44 the hottest fire, when I saw him 
4 4 throw up his arms and fall. Lieut. 




10 


FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 


“ S. R. Elliot and myself ran to his 
“ assistance, but life was extinct; 
“ he had been shot through the 
“ breast with a large rifle ball. 
“ Capt. Laing came up at the same 
“ instant. * * * * I then called to 
“ some of our men, and lifting the 
“ body upon crossed muskets, we 
“ bore it away.” 

The chief of artillery of the Fed¬ 
eral army, Maj. Barry, reports the 
total number of guns attached to 
Gen. McDowell’s army as forty-nine, 
of which only twenty-four crossed 
Bull Run and took part in the bat¬ 
tle. These were as follows : Grif¬ 
fin’s, six guns ; Ricketts’, six guns ; 
Arnold’s, four guns ; Second Rhode 
Island Rgt’s, six guns ; and lastly, 
two boat howitzers attached to the 
New York Seventy-first, which last 
were without horses, being drawn 
by hand by detachments of men 
from the regiment. The first North¬ 
ern battery to arrive on the field 
was the Rhode Island Second, fol¬ 
lowed by the two guns of the New 
York Seventy-first, then by Griffin’s, 
a little later by Ricketts’, and lastly 
by Arnold’s battery. The first posi¬ 
tion occupied by these batteries was 
on the elevation to the north of the 
Henry House, where took place the 
first rencontre of the infantry ; but 
when the scene of battle shifted to 
the grounds around the Henry 
House, some thousand yards dis¬ 
tant, Gen. McDowell thought that 
the fire of his guns would be more 
effective if they also were advanced 
to the latter position, and he ordered 
accordingly that two batteries he 
transferred to that elevation, indi¬ 
cating at the same time the position 
they were to occupy. The order 
was executed by Maj. Barry, who 
chose the batteries of Ricketts’ and 
Griffin’s for the duty. Concerning 
this interesting incident, upon which 
the fate of the day seems so much 
to have hung, there has been much 
discussion, and it will not perhaps 
be amiss to quote portions of the 
testimony given before the Congres¬ 
sional Investigating Committee on 


the Conduct of the War during the 
following year by several of the 
officers concerned in that movement. 
Captain Griffin, commanding one of 
the batteries, testified as follows : 



Capt. later Gen. Chas. Griffin. 


“Washington, January 14, 1862. 

“ Capt. Charles Griffin sworn and 
“ examined. 

“ By Chairman :***** 

“ Question.—Were you at Bull 
“ Run at the time of the battle 
“ there in July last ? 

“ Answer.—Yes, sir. 

“ Question.—Under whose com- 
“ mand ? 

“ Answer.—I was attached to Gen- 
“ eral Andrew Porter’s brigade, 
“which belonged to General Hun- 
“ ter’s division. 

“ Question.—Will you please in- 
“ form us what, according to your 
“ best judgment, led to the disasters 
“ of that day ? 

“ Answer.—I can tell you what 
“ occurred on the right, where I 
“ was. I was brought into battery 
“ about half past 11, and opened on 
“ the enemy’s artillery. I should 




FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 


ii 


u suppose it maintained its position 
44 for about a half an hour, when it 
“ retired. I changed position two 
14 or three times, and opened upon 
“ their infantry. It also retired, 
“ and as far as my observation went, 
44 we were successful in all parts of 
44 the field. There Was a lull ; we 
41 had nothing to fire at. Then 
44 Major Barry (now General Barry) 
44 approached me and said that it 
44 was General McDowell’s order for 
44 us to move on a hill about a thou- 
44 sand yards distant, where the ene- 
44 my’s battery was that I had fired 
44 at. I hesitated about going there, 
44 because I had no support. I was 
44 told the Fire Zouaves would sup- 
44 port us. We started for the hill, 
44 and halted once or twice. Once I 
44 went to Major Barry and told him 
44 I had no support ; that it was im- 
44 possible to go there without a sup- 
44 port. He told me that the Fire 
44 Zouaves would support us ; that 
44 they were just ready to take the 
44 double quick and follow us. I 
44 told him if such was the case, I 
44 wished he would permit them to 
44 go and get into position on the 
44 hill—let the batteries (Captain 
44 Ricketts’ and mine) come into po- 
44 sition behind them; and then let 
44 them fall back. And I told him 
44 the better place for our battery 
44 was on a hill about 500 yards in 
44 the rear of the one to which we 
44 were then ordered. He said that 
44 General McDowell’s order was to 
44 go to the other hill ; and he also 
44 refused to let the Fire Zouaves go 
44 on the hill first and form into line. 
44 I told him they would not support 
“ us. He said they would. He 
“ said, ‘Yes, they will; at any rate, 
44 it is General McDowell’s order to 
44 go there.’ I said, ‘I will go ; but 
44 mark my words, they will not 
“ support us.’ In going to the hill 
44 my first lieutenant went towards 
44 another place, and I had to give 
“ the order to countermarch, and go 
44 on the hill indicated. The turn- 
44 ing off there by my first lieutenant 
44 threw Ricketts’ battery to the* 


44 front. We got on the hill and 
‘ 4 fired about half an hour, when I 
44 moved two of my pieces to the 
44 right of Ricketts’ battery. We 
44 were then firing upon the enemy’s 
44 battery, which was not certainly 
44 over 300, if it was 250, yards from 
44 us. I had only five pieces there. 
44 One of my pieces had had a ball 
44 lodged in the bore so that it could 
44 not be got in or out. I had five 
44 pieces there, and Ricketts’ had 
44 six, making eleven pieces side by 
44 side. As I said, I moved these 
44 pieces to the right of Ricketts’ 
44 battery, and commenced firing. 
44 After I had been there about five 
44 minutes, a regiment of confeder- 
44 ates got over a fence on my front, 
44 and some officer (I took it to be 
44 the colonel) stepped out in front 
44 of the regiment, between it and 
44 my battery, and commenced mak- 
44 ing a speech to them. I gave the 
44 command to one of my officers to 
44 fire upon them. He loaded the 
44 cannon with canister, and was 
“ just ready to fire upon them, when 
44 Maj. Barry rode up to me and said, 
44 ‘Captain, don’t fire there; those 
44 are your battery support. ’ I said, 
44 ‘They are confederates; as certain 
44 as the world, they are confed- 
44 erates.’ He replied, ‘I know they 
44 are your battery support.’ I 
“ sprang to my pieces and told my 
44 officer not to fire there. He threw 
44 down the canister, and commenced 
44 firing again in the former direc- 
44 tion. After the officer who had 
44 been talking to the regiment had 
44 got through, he faced them to the 
44 left, and marched them about fifty 
44 yards to the woods, then faced 
44 them to the right again, and 
44 marched them about forty yards 
44 towards us, and then opened fire 
44 upon us, and that was the last of 
44 us. I had about fifty horses killed 
44 that day. I had had several horses 
44 and some men killed before. Be- 
44 fore this occurred I started to lim- 
44 ber up my pieces, so thoroughly 
44 convinced was I that they were 
4 4 the confederates. But as the chief 



12 


FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 


“ of artillery told me they were my 
“ battery support, I was afraid to 
“ fire upon them. Major Barry said, 
“ ‘I know it is the battery support ; 
“ it is the regiment taken there by 

“ Colonel -‘Very well,’ said 

“ I, and gave the command to fire 
“ in another direction with the bat- 
“ tery. But I never delivered the 
“ fire, for we were all cut down. 
“ The Zouaves were about twenty 
“ yards to the rear of us ; they were 
“ sitting down. I begged them to 
“ come up and give them a volley 
“ and then try the bayonet. They 
“ did not run at first, but stood as 
“ if panic stricken. I do not believe 
“ they fired fifty shots, certainly not 
‘ ‘ over one hundred. And after they 
“ had received three, perhaps four, 
“ volleys from this regiment of con- 
“ federates, they broke and ran. I 
“ went down the hill and found 
“ Major Barry at the stream water- 
“ ing his horse. I stopped to water 
“ my horse also. Said I, ‘Major, do 
“ you think the Zouaves will sup- 
“ port us?’ Said he, ‘I was mis- 
‘ ‘ taken. ’ Said I, ‘Do you think that 
“ was our support?’ ‘I was mis- 
“ taken,’ he said. ‘Yes,’ said I, 
“ ‘you were mistaken all around.’ 
“ I can substantiate all this if any- 
“ thing is said to the contrary. 

‘ ‘ There are living witnesses to sup- 
“ port it. Lieutenant Read stood 
“ by my side and heard the conver- 
“ sation about the battery support. 

“ Question by Mr. Chandler.— 
“ Could you have cut up that regi- 
“ ment with a charge of canister so 
“ that they would not have charged 
“ upon you? 

“ Answer.—I could have staggered 
“ them terribly. While the colonel 
“ was making his speech to them 
“ we had plenty of time to have 
“ passed word along the whole line, 
“ and if the whole eleven guns had 
“ been turned upon them, they could 
“ not have touched us. 

“ Question.—Was that the com- 
“ mencement of the repulse? 

“Answer.—Yes, sir ; the first I 
“ saw of it. We had been advanc- 


“ ing gradually before that. The 
“ report of General Andrew Porter 
“ is the best testimony of that. 

“ By the Chairman : 

“ Question.—What time was that ? 

“ Answer.—About 3 o’clock, ear- 
“ Her or later—later if anything. I 
“ should suppose it was not far from 
“ that time. 

“ Question.—What happened af- 
“ ter that? 

“ Answer.—Well, sir, I got off the 
“ field with one piece, there being 
“ one wheel horse and one lead 
“ horse to the piece. That piece I 
“ only got off about a thousand 
“ yards. I got off the field two 
“ pieces—two Parrott guns—the one 
“ that the ball lodged in, and one 
“ with ths horses attached to it. 

“ Question.—And your judgment 
“ is that if the batteries had been 
“ supported by four thousand men, 
“ they could not have been driven 
“ from their position ? 

“Answer.—Yes, sir; I have no 
“ idea they could. 

“ Question.—And if your batteries 
‘ ‘ had retained their position there, 
“ would there have been any repulse 
“ at that time in that part of the 
“ field? 

“ Answer.—I do not believe there 
“ would. I believe if I had been 
“ allowed to take the position I 
“ wanted to go, and to which Cap- 
“ tain Kensel wanted to go, we 
“ would not have lost our batteries. 
“ Captain Ricketts is living, and I 
“ understand that he refused to 
“ move forward. When Lieutenant 
“ Snyder, of the engineers, who 
“ died a few weeks ago, came up to 
“ him, Captain Ricketts said to him, 
“ ‘Snyder, I have such an order to 
“ move forward.’ Lieutenant Sny- 
“ der said, ‘You have the best posi- 
“ tion in the world ; stand fast, and 
“ I will go and see General Mc- 
“ Dowell.’ He went, and came 
“ hack and said that General Mc- 
“ Dowell would comply with Major 
“ Barry’s orders. That was very 



FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUX, 




<4 proper and polite in General Mc- 
44 Dowell, for Major Barry was his 
111 chief -of staff; but it shows that 
44 the officers of my battery were 
* 4 not the only ones who thought we 
44 should not have been moved for- 
4 4 ward. General Andrew Porter 
44 came to me after the battle, and 
41 spoke very severely. Said he, 

4 4 ‘Sir, I want to know how you got 
44 into such a situation.’ I said, ‘I 
44 went in accordance with the order 
44 of General Barry from General 
44 McDowell.’ General Porter had 
44 told me that he relied upon me, 
44 as I was his only battery. He 
44 said, ‘When I found you had gone 
44 a thousand yards in advance, I 
44 cannot tell you my feelings. I 
44 was afraid I had allowed you to 
44 go there upon my order.’ He felt, 
44 perhaps, that I had gone there 
44 upon my discretion. 

* * * jfc 

44 Question.—How many of your 
44 horses were killed by the fire of 
44 this regiment? 

“ Answer.—I should suppose there 
44 were thirty or forty killed ?” 



4 ‘Washington, April 3, 1862. 

44 General James B. Ricketts sworn 
44 and examined. 

44 By the Chairman : 

44 Question.—What was your rank 
44 on the 21st of July last, the day 
44 of the battle of Bull Run? 

44 Answer.—I was a captain of 
44 the first regiment of artillery. 

44 Question.—In what brigade ? 

44 Answer.—General Franklin’s 

44 brigade. 

44 Question.—Will you please give 
44 us an account in your own way, 
44 of what you saw of the battle ? 

44 Answer.—I saw very little ex* 
44 cept what concerned myself You 
44 must know that any one who has 
44 charge of six pieces of artillery, 
44 has as much as he can attend to 
44 to manage them and obey orders. 
44 I went on the field at Sudley’s 
44 Spring, in General Heintzelman’s 
44 division, General Franklin’s bri- 
44 gade. After crossing the stream, 
44 where I watered my horses, my 
4 4 first order was to take to the right 
44 into an open field, to effect which 
44 I had to take down the fences. I 
“ then came into action about a 
44 thousand yards from the enemy, I 
44 should judge. There was a bat- 
44 tery of smooth bores opposed 
44 against me, doing some damage 
44 to us; it killed some horses and 
44 wounded some few of my men ; 
44 I myself saw one man struck on 
44 the arm. My battery consisted 
44 of six rifled Parrott guns, conse- 
44 quently I was more than a match 
44 at that distance for the smooth- 
44 bore battery. It is difficult to 
“judge of the passage of time un- 
44 der such circumstances, as we nev- 
“ er look at our watches then. But 
44 after firing, I should judge, twenty 
44 minutes or a half an hour, I had 
“ orders to advance a certain dis- 
44 tance. I moved forward, and was 
44 about to come into battery again, 
44 when I was ordered to proceed 
44 further on, up on a hill near the 
44 Henry House. 

44 By Mr. Chandler : 


Capt. later Gen. Jas. B. Ricketts. 






FIRST BATTLE Oh BELL RUE. 


H 


“ Question.—About what time 
“ was it when you first came into 
“ action? 

‘ ‘Answer.—We had marched 
“ twelve miles. I should judge my 
“ first coming into action must have 
“ been somewhere about noon. 
“ That, of course, is a mere guess. 

‘ ‘ I received this order to move for- 
‘ fc ward. I told the officer that he 
“ must indicate the spot, so that 
“ there should be no mistake about 
“it. I saw at a glance, as I thought, 
“ that I was going into great peril 
“ for my horses and men. But I 
“ did not hesitate to obey the order, 
“ merely asking to have the spot 
“ clearly indicated to me. The 
“ ground had not been reconnoitred 
“ at all, and there was a little ravine 
“ in front that I had to pass. As I 
“ marched at the head of my com- 
“ pany with Lieutenant Ramsay, he 
u said to me, ‘We cannot pass that 
“ ravine.’ I told him that we must 
“ pass it. As we were under fire, to 
“ countermarch there would be fatal. 
“ The confusion consequent upon 
“ turning around there would expose 
“ us to great danger. As it was, we 
“ dashed across, breaking one wheel 
“in the effort, which we immedi- 
“ ately replaced. I called off the 
“ cannoniers and took down the 
“ fence and ascended the hill near 
“ the Henry House, which was at 
“ that time filled with sharpshooters. 
“ I had scarcely got into battery be- 
“ fore I saw some of my horses fall 
“ and some of my men wounded by 
“ the sharpshooters. I turned my 
“ guns upon the house and literally 
“ riddled it. It has been said that 
“ there was a woman killed there 
“ by our guns. It was in that house 
“ that she was killed at the time I 
“ turned my battery on it and 
“ shelled out the sharpshooters 
“ there. We did not move from 
“ that position—that is, we made 
“ no important movement. We 
“ moved a piece one way or the 
“ other, perhaps, in order to take 
“ advantage of the enemy’s appear- 
“ ance at one point or another. 


“ But our guns were not again lim- 
“ bered up. In fact, in a very short 
“ time we were not in a position or 
“ a condition to move, on account 
“ of the number of our horses that 
“ were disabled. I know it was the 
“ hottest place I ever saw in my 
“ life, and I had seen some fighting 
“ before. The enemy had taken ad- 
“ vantage of the woods and the 
“ natural slope of the ground, and 
“ delivered a terrible fire upon us. 

“ Question.—Was that the place 
“ where your battery was lost ? 

“ Answer.—Yes, sir. 

“ Question.—And where you your- 
“ self was wounded and fell ? 

“ Answer.—Yes, sir. 

“ Question.—Who gave you the 
“ order to march forward there? 

“ Answer.—Lieutenant Kings- 
“ bury, of General McDowell’s staffj. 

‘ ‘ brought me the order. Lieutenant 
“ Snyder was also near, and I told 
“ him I wanted him to bear in mind 
“ that I had received that order* 
“ although no point was indicated.”' 

The chief of artillery of McDowell’s 
army, Major Barry, in his official 
report, refers to this incident in the 
following manner: 

“ Returning to the position occu- 
“ pied by Ricketts’ and Griffin’s 
“ batteries, I received an order from 
“ Gen. McDowell to advance two* 
“ batteries to an eminence, specially 
“ designated by him, about 800 yards 
“ in front of the line previously oc- 
“ cupied by the enemy’s batteries. 
“ I therefore ordered these two bat- 
“ teries to move forward at once* 
“ and, as soon as they were in mo- 
“ tion, went for and secured as sup- 
“ ports the nth (Fire Zouaves) and 
“the 14th (Brooklyn) New York 
“ regiments. I accompanied the 
“ former regiment to guide it to its 
“ proper position, and Col. Heintzel- 
“ man, 17th United States Infantry, 
“ performed the same service for the 
“ 14th on the right of the nth. A 
“ squadron of United States cavalry, 
“ under Captain Colburn, 1st Cav- 
“ airy, was subsequently ordered as 
“ additional support. We were soon 


FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 


1 5 


upon the ground designated, and 
“ the two batteries at once opened 
“ a very effective fire upon the ene- 
44 my’s left The new position had 
scarcely been occupied, when a 
<t troop of the enemy’s cavalry, de- 
■“ bauching from a piece of woods 
close upon our right flank, charged 
“ down upon the New York nth. 
* ‘ The Zouaves catching sight of the 
“ cavalry a few moments before they 
*‘ were upon them, broke ranks to 
such a degree that the cavalry 
■“ dashed through without doing 
them much harm. The Zouaves 
gave them a scattering fire as they 
“ ‘ passed, which emptied five saddles 
■“ and killed three horses. A few 
“ minutes afterwards a regiment of 
the enemy’s infantry, covered by 
<i a high fence, presented itself in 
4 ‘ line on the left and front of the 
44 two batteries, at not more than 60 
“ or 7o yards’ distance, and deliv- 
44 ered a volley full upon the bat- 
44 teries and their supports. Lieut. 
44 Ramsay, ist Artillery, was killed, 
44 and Captain Ricketts, ist Artillery, 
44 was wounded, and a number of 
44 men and horses were killed or dis- 
44 abled by this close and well di- 
44 rected volley. The nth and 14th 
44 regiments instantly broke, and 
44 fled in confusion to the rear, and, 
44 in spite of the repeated and earn- 
44 est efforts of Col. Heintzelman 
44 with the latter, and myself with 
44 the former, refused to rally and 
44 return to the support of the bat- 
44 teries. The enemy, seeing the 
44 guns thus abandoned by their sup- 
44 ports, rushed upon them, anddriv- 
44 ing off the cannoniers, who with 
* 4 their officers stood bravely at their 
44 posts until the last moment, cap- 
44 tured them, ten in number.” 

Gen. W. W. Averell, at that time 
lieutenant of regular cavalry, and 
acting as assistant adjutant general 
to Gen. Andrew Porter, command¬ 
ing First Brigade of Second Divi¬ 
sion, makes the following statement 
in his testimony before the Congres¬ 
sional Investigating Committee on 
the Conduct of the War : 


44 I immediately rode over to the 
<4 right of the field and inquired 
44 where Gen. McDowell was. I 
14 found him on top of a little hill in 
44 a little field beyond the turnpike. 
44 In going over I had spoken to the 
44 14th, and told them to push up to 
44 the woods on the right of Griffin’s 
44 battery. They went forward fine- 
44 ly in line. I followed the 14th, 
44 going around the right flank of it, 
44 and got up on the hill where Gen. 
44 McDowell was. Gen. McDowell 
44 called out to the colonel of the 
44 14th to march the regiment by 
44 flank. There was probably a de- 
44 lay of two or three minutes in ex- 
4 4 ecuting that movement, I spoke, 
44 then, to the General, and said: 
44 ‘General, if that battery goes up 
44 on the hill it will be lost; the 
44 woods are full of the enemy, for I 
44 have seen them there.’ I had 
44 then been on the ground seven 
4 4 hours watching closely with a 
44 glass all the movements. Said I, 
44 'For heaven’s sake let the 14th go 
44 up in the woods.’ Marching them 
44 by flank, changing the movement, 
44 was sending them up in rear of 
44 the battery, where they could have 
44 no effect upon the enemy on the 
44 flank. Gen. McDowell said, ‘Go 
4 4 and take the 14th where you want 
‘‘it.’ I immediately went to the 
44 14th, changed its direction to the 
44 woods, and told it to take the 
44 double quick. The battery was 
44 still moving. The General said it 
44 was too late to recall the move- 
44 ment. I was so apprehensive that 
44 the battery would meet with a 
44 disaster there that I rode up to 
14 where the battery was. The ma> 
44 rines were then sitting down in 
44 close column on the ground on 
4 4 the left of the battery. The bat- 
44 tery was then getting into posi- 
41 tion and unlimbering. The fire 
44 zouaves were still in rear of the 
44 battery. The zouaves immedi- 
44 ately commenced a movement, 
44 rose up and moved off in rear of 
44 the battery, a little to the right. 
44 I rode up then to the left of the 


FIRST BATTLE OF BULL BUM 




44 battery, and there met CoL Heint- 
‘‘‘ zelman-. I saw some troops im- 
4,4 mediately in front of us, not over 
“ 75 or loo yards off. I should say 
44 it was at least a regiment ; we 
44 could see their heads and faces 
“ very plainly. I said to Col. 
44 Heintzelman; "What troops are 
* 4 those in front of us?’ He was 
44 looking off in another direction 
“ I said : 'Here, right in front of 
44 the battery,’ I do not remember 
“ the reply he made, but I dropped 
“ my reins and took up my glasses 
44 to look at them, and just at that 
44 moment down came their pieces, 
44 rifles and muskets, and probably 
44 there never was such a destructive 
44 fire for a few minutes. It seemed 
4 ‘ as though every man and horse of 
“ that battery just laid right down 
44 and died right off. It was half a 
“ minute—it seemed longer—before 
“ I could get my horse down out of 
44 the fire. I then went to the ma- 
“ rines and halloed to them to hurry 
“ on. Their officers were standing 
44 behind them keeping them in 
44 ranks ; but the destruction of the 
“ battery was so complete that the 
“ marines and zouaves seemed to be 
“ struck with such astonishment, 
41 such consternation, that they could 
44 not do anything. There were 
“ probably ioo muskets fired from 
44 the zouaves and marines—not over 
“ that ; and they, of course, fired 
44 too high. They were below the 
44 battery, and where the battery 
44 was we could not see more than 
“ half of the bodies of the rebels, 
44 and what they did fire was inef- 
44 fective. They began to break and 
44 run down the hill, and nothing 
44 could stop them, and then the 
44 enemy rushed right over there 
44 like a lowering cloud—right over 
44 the hill. 

44 Question.—Why did not the 
44 batteries open upon those men in 
44 front ? 

44 Answer.—I do not know from 
44 actual operation why they did not. 
44 The battery was unlimbered and 
“ the men were standing at the guns. 


44 " In going down the hill, after the 
44 general wreck, I saw an officer 
u galloping along a little in front of 
44 me, I recognized Major Barry, 
44 and cried out ‘'Halloo, Barry, is'. 
44 that you?’ He said, 4 Yes.’ Said 
44 1 , "Where is Griffin ?’ He said, T 
44 am afraid he is killed.’ I said, 
44 ‘That battery is lost ; I am afraid 
44 we are gone up,’ or some remark 
44 to that effect. Barry then said " 
44 4 I am to blame for the loss of that 
44 battery. I put Griffin there my~ 
44 self’ Well, the 14th, by this time, 
44 had reached the woods on the 
44 right. The 38th New York, which 
44 led the column on the left, which 
44 we intended to support when they 
44 got there, had reached this little 
44 cross-road, and the 14th and 38th: 
44 held on very well—indeed, splen- 
44 didly. The enemy came right 
44 over the brow of the hill, and their 
44 fire was very deadly. They made 
44 a rush over the top of the hill, 
44 and their cavalry made their ap- 
4t pearance at the same time; the 
44 14th and 38th hung on for fifteen 
44 minutes there, while all the offi- 
44 cel’s about there tried to collect 
4 4 these scattered troops and get 
44 them back to that position to the 
44 assistance of the 14th and 38th, 
44 and appealed to them in every 
44 way that possibly could be done. 
44 But it was of no avail. What 
44 there was left of the battery, a 
44 few limbers and caissons that had 
44 live horses to drag them, came 
44 galloping down the hill, right 
44 through this mass of running 
44 troops, and occasionally a horse 
44 would fall, and the whole thing 
44 would get all tangled up. 

44 Question.—Was or not that the 
44 beginning of the panic? 

44 Answer.—That was the turning 
44 point of the affair, right there.” 

It will perhaps be interesting to 
give a brief extract from the evi¬ 
dence of Gen. Jas. S. Wadsworth 
before the Investigating Committee, 
as to the causes which led to the de¬ 
feat of the Northern army in that 
battle. Gen. Wadsworth then held 



FIRST BATTLE OF BI LL RUN. 


17 


the rank of major and acted during 
that day as volunteer aid upon the 
staff of Gen. McDowell. Among 
other responses to the Committee 
were the following : 

“ By the Chairman : 

11 Question.—Suppose that John- 
“ ston had not come down, but had 
“ been kept back, what would have 
“ been the result? 

Answer.—Take out the whole of 
u Johnston’s command, and the vic- 
“ tory would have been very easily 
“ won. But take out the portion of 
“ his command that came down un- 
“ der Gen. Eiger (Elzey) about three 
44 o’clock in the afternoon, and I 
“ still think the battle would have 
“ been won by us, but we could not 
“ say exactly. But we were liold- 
“ ing our own, and had other troops 
“ to bring up. It is not certain that 
“ we should have won the battle, 
“ but Gen. McDowell thought we 
‘* should. I was where that re-en- 
“ forcement arrived. I happened 
“to be where the first discharge of 
“ musketry from that re-enforce- 
“ ment came in. It was very severe, 
“ and then they followed it up im- 
“ mediately with a very bold charge 
“ right on the field. They came 
“ through a piece of woods on to 
“ the battlefield,” etc. 

The following extract contains 
Gen. McDowell’s account of the 
commencement of the retreat: 

“ It was at this time that the ene- 
“ my’s reinforcements came to his 
“ aid from the railroad train, under- 
“ stood to have just arrived from 
“ the valley with the residue of 
“ Johnston’s army. They threw 
“ themselves in the woods on our 
“ right, and towards the rear of our 
u right, and opened a fire of mus- 
“ ketry on our men, which caused 
“ them to break and retire down 
“ the hillside. This soon degener- 
“ ated into disorder, for which there 
“ was no remedy. Every effort was 
“ made to rally them, even beyond 
“ the reach of the enemy’s fire, but 
“ in vain. The battalion of regular 
“ infantry alone moved up the hill 


“ opposite to the one with the house 
“ on it, and there maintained itself 
“ until our men could get down to 
“ and across the Warrenton turn- 
“ pike, on the way back to the posi- 
“ tion we occupied in the morning. 
“ The plain was covered with re- 
41 treating troops, and they seemed 
“ to infect those with whom they 
44 came in contact. The retreat soon 
44 became a rout, and thia degener- 
44 ated still further into a panic. 
44 Finding this state of affairs was 
4 ‘ beyond the efforts of all those 
44 who had assisted so faithfully dur- 
44 ing the long and hard day’s work 
44 in gaining almost the object of 
44 our wishes, and that nothing re- 
44 mained on the field but to recog- 
44 nize what we could no longer pre- 
44 vent, I gave the necessary orders 
44 to protect their withdrawal.” 

Col. Sherman, referring to the left 
center of the field, says in his offi¬ 
cial report : 4 ’Here (about 3:30 p. 

44 m.) began the scene of disorder 
44 and confusion that characterized 
44 the remainder of the day.” 

Col. Andrew Porter, commanding 
the First Brigade of the Second Di¬ 
vision, thus describes the closing 
scenes of that day : 

44 The evanescent courage of the 
44 “Zouaves” prompted them to fire 
“ perhaps a hundred shots, when 
44 they broke and fled, leaving the 
44 batteries open to a charge of the 
44 enemy’s cavalry, which took place 
44 immediately. The marines also, 
44 in spite of the exertions of their 
4 4 gallant officers, gave way in disor- 
44 der. The 14th, on the right, and 
“ the column on the left, hesitat- 
44 ingly retired, with the exception 
44 of the 69th and 38th New York, 
44 who nobly stood and returned the 
44 fire of the enemy for fifteen min- 
44 utes. Soon the slopes behind us 
44 were swarming with our retreat- 
44 ing and disorganized forces, while 
44 riderless horses and artillery teams 
44 ran furiously through the flying 
44 crowd. All further efforts were 
44 futile. The words, gestures, and 
44 threats of our officers were thrown 



i8 


FIRST BATTLE OF BULL SUE. 


“ away upon men who had lost all 
“ presence of mind, and only longed 
“ tor absence of body. Some of our 
“ noblest and best officers lost their 
“ Hves in trying to rally them. 
44 Upon our first position the 27th 
“ was the first to rally, under the 
“ command of Major Bartlett, and 
“ around it the other regiments en- 
“ gaged soon collected their scat- 
“ tered fragments. The battalion 
“ of regulars, in the meantime, 
“ moved steadily across the field 
“ from the left to the right, and 
“ took up a position, where it held 
“ the entire force of rebels in check 
44 until our forces were somewhat 
“ rallied. The commanding general 
44 then ordered a retreat upon Cen- 
44 terville, at the same time direct- 
44 ing me to cover it with the bat- 
“ talion of regulars, the cavalry 
“ and a section of artillery. The 
44 rear guard thus organized followed 
44 our panic-stricken troops to Cen- 
44 terville, resisting the attacks of 
“ the rebel cavalry and artillery, 
44 and saving them from the inevi- 
44 table destruction which awaited 
44 them had not this body been in- 
44 terposed.” 

Major Sykes, commanding the reg¬ 
ulars just referred to, and which con¬ 
sisted of eight companies, makes the 
following statement in his official 
report: 

44 As the attack of our army be- 
44 came more developed on the 
44 right, and the necessity of my 
44 staying with the guns, 2nd R. I. 
44 Battery ceased, I moved my bat- 
44 talion in that direction, passing 
44 through crowds of retiring troops 
44 whom we endeavored in vain to 
“ rally. Taking a position on the 
44 extreme right in front of several 
44 regiments of the enemy, I opened 
44 an effective fire upon them, and 
44 held my ground until all our 
44 troops had fallen back, and my 
44 flank was turned by a large force 
44 of horse and foot. I then retired 
44 a short distance in good order, and 
44 facing the enemy on the crest cf 
44 a hill, held his cavalry in check, 


44 which still threatened our flank. 
44 At this stage of the action, my 
44 command was the only opposing 
44 force to the enemy, and the last 
44 to leave the field.” 

Col. Heintzelman, referring to the 
last detachments of the Federal 
troops to leave the field, says in his 
official report: 4 ‘Finding it impos- 

44 sible to rally any of the regiments, 
44 we commenced our retreat about 
44 half-past four P. M.” 

During the retreat the greater 
part of the commands, when brought 
into proximity with each other, be¬ 
came intermingled and lost their 
organization. This, of course, added 
much to the general confusion and 
panic prevailing. 

Arnold’s battery left the field with 
all four of its guns, and the Second 
Rhode Island battery was able to 
withdraw five of its pieces. But on 
reaching the bridge over Cub Run, 
a stream two miles to the west of 
Centerville, and, therefore, between 
that village and the battlefield, they 
found the passage of the bridge 
wholly blocked, caused by a cannon 
shot from one of the enemy’s guns 
overturning in the middle of the 
bridge a caisson, and thus bringing 
to a stand still all vehicles of the re¬ 
treating army still remaining to the 
west of the stream. The banks to 
the right and left were too precipit¬ 
ous to admit of the passage of teams. 
The drivers, therefore, cut the traces, 
and rode away on the horses. It 
was at this bridge then that the nine 
pieces of artillery above referred to 
fell into the hands of the enemy, 
together with a considerable quan¬ 
tity of munitions and other military 
stores. 

Now let us turn our attention 
more particularly to the part played 
by the Southern army in the events 
of that day. From intelligence re¬ 
ceived through secret channels hold¬ 
ing relations with the governmental 
departments at Washington Gen. 
Beauregard, the commander-in-chief 
of the Southern Army of the Poto¬ 
mac, was informed of the plan of 


FIB ST BATTLE OF BULL BUN. 




the Federals to attempt an expedi¬ 
tion into the northern part of Vir¬ 
ginia with a view of severing the 
connections between his army, near 
Manassas, with that of Gen. John¬ 
ston, near Winchester, and then 
destroying them separately, before 
they could extend material aid to 
each other. 

Gen. Beauregard established the 
base of his operations at Manassas, 
where he caused defensive works of 
considerable importance to be thrown 
up, and disposed his available forces 
along the line of Bull Run, as has 
been already stated, from the ford 
opposite Manassas (Union Mills),and 
extending some seven miles to the 
Stone Bridge, which he then consid¬ 
ered as the furthest probable point of 
attack in that direction. He for¬ 
warded, at the same time, the infor¬ 
mation he had received from Wash¬ 
ington, to the Confederate Govern¬ 
ment at Richmond, advising a junc¬ 
tion of Johnston’s army with his. 
The Richmond authorities left the 



Gen. G. T. Beauregard. 

decision of the matter in a large 
measure to the discretion of General 
Johnston, who immediately decided 


upon a junction at the earliest mo¬ 
ment between the two armies, if he 
could elude the army of Gen. Pat¬ 
terson, then confronting him and 




Gen. Jos. E. Johnson. 

watching his movements. This he 
succeeded in doing, and reached 
Manassas in person about noon of 
the 20th, where he had already been 
preceded by seven regiments of his 
army. Out-ranking Beauregard, he 
assumed command of the joint 
forces, and accepted in toto the plans 
already formed by the former. On 
the morning of the battle of the 
21st, the following is the order in 
which the forces of the Southern 
army were posted along Bull Run : 
Ewell’s brigade before Union Mills 
Ford, supported by Holmes’ brigade 
in the rear ; D. R. Jones’ brigade 
before McLean’s Ford, and preserv¬ 
ing connection with Ewell’s com¬ 
mand on the right and Longstreet’s 
on the left, with Early’s brigade in 
the rear as support; Longstreet’s 
brigade before Blackburn’s Ford, 
where it had been in the skirmish of 
the preceding 18th, and extending 
its wings to form an uninterrupted 
connection with Jones’ troops on the 
right and Bonham on the left, with 
Jackson’s brigade as support, to- 










20 


FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 


gether with Bee’s and Bartow’s 
troops after their arrival ; before 
Mitchell’s Ford was Bonham’s bri¬ 
gade, which kept at the same time 
intact the connections between the 
two fords on his right and left; while 
Cocke’s brigade occupied the line of 
the stream between Mitchell’s Ford 
and the Stone Bridge, at which last 
place was stationed a demi-brigade 
under Col. Evans, also reporting to 
Gen. Cocke. 

The first plan conceived by Gen. 
Beauregard and approved by Gen. 
Johnston for relieving the pressure 
of the enemy upon the extreme left 
flank, was to cross Bull Run at one 
of the fords opposite Manassas, and 
advance upon the Federal position 
near Centerville, thereby threaten¬ 
ing his communication with his base 
at Washington. To this end orders 
were sent early in the morning of 
the 21st to Ewell, before Union Mills 
Ford, to cross the stream and advance 
upon the Federals ; and at the same 
time, he ordered the other commands 
posted along the water course, to 
follow and support Ewell in the or¬ 
der of their positions ; that is, Jones, 
Longstreet and Bonham, together 
with the reserves supporting them. 

As we have seen, upon the dis¬ 
covery by Col. Evans of the flank¬ 
ing movement of the Northern army, 
he at once transferred the major 
part of his command from its posi¬ 
tion before the Stone Bridge to his 
rear, to intercept the advance of the 
enemy. About 10:30 A. M., shortly 
after the time when the Northern 
columns debauched from the woods 
in front of Evans’ new position, 
Generals Beauregard and Johnston, 
who were anxiously listening for 
sounds of the attack on the Federals’ 
rear at Centerville by Gen. Ewell’s 
brigade, received a dispatch from 
the latter, informing them that the 
order for his advance, issued early 
in the morning, had never reached 
him, but that, in consequence of a 
communication from Gen. Jones, 
received but a short time before, he 
had thrown his brigade across the 


stream. The day was so far ad¬ 
vanced, and the development of the 
attack of the enemy on the extreme 
left had reached such a point that it 
was decided advisable to abandon 
the attack on Centerville. Main¬ 
taining, therefore, at the several 
fords a force sufficient to hold in 
check any probable effort on the 
part of the Union forces to effect a 
passage, the remainder of the South¬ 
ern army was hurried to the extreme 
left to arrest, if possible, the progress 
of the flanking movement of the 
Northern army. When the broken 
fragments of the commands of Bee, 
Bartow and Evans reached the 
Henry House hill in their retreat 
from the first position taken by 
them, Jackson's brigade of five reg- 



“ Stonewall ” Jackson. 

iments and Hampton’s Legion, 600 
strong, were already posted in a 
judicious position awaiting the on¬ 
rush of the enemy. 

After a series of spirited contests 
between different portions of the 
opposing forces with varying suc¬ 
cess, Gen. Beauregard ordered about 
2:00 P. M., a general charge of all 






FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUX . 


21 


his troops then facing the Federals 
on the Henry House elevation, ex¬ 
cept his reserves, and the plateau 
was cleared of the enemy. 

He says in his official report that 
44 the Federal lines were broken and 
44 swept back at all points from the 
44 open ground of the plateau.” 

The second general charge of the 
Confederates is thus described by 
Beauregard in his official report : 

44 By this time,, between half past 
44 two and three o’clock, P. M., our 
44 reinforcements pushed forward, 
44 and directed by Gen. Johnston to 
44 the required quarter, were at hand 
44 just as I had ordered forward to 
44 the second effort for the recovery 
44 of the disputed plateau the whole 
44 line, including my reserves, which, 
44 at this crisis of the battle, I felt 
44 called upon to lead in person. 
44 This attack was general and was 
44 shared in by every regiment in 
44 the field, including the 6th, Fish- 



44 ers’, North Carolina Rgt., which 
44 had just come up and taken posi- 
44 tion to the immediate left of the 



Col. Bartovr. 


44 49th Va. Rgt. The whole open 
44 ground was again swept clear of 
i4 the enemy.” Further on in the 
same paragraph he continues :— 
44 This part of the day was rich with 
44 deeds of individual coolness and 
‘ 4 dauntless conduct, as well as well- 
44 directed, embodied resolution and 
4 ‘ bravery, but fraught with the loss 
44 to the service of the country of 
44 lives of inestimable preciousness 
44 at this juncture. The brave Bee 
44 was mortally wounded at the head 
44 of the 4th Alabama Rgt. and some 
44 Mississipians in the open field near 
44 the Henry House, and a few yards 
44 distant, the promising life of Bar- 
44 tow, while leading the 7th Georgia 
44 Rgt., was quenched in blood. 
44 Col. F. J. Thomas, Acting Chief 
44 of Ordnance, of Gen. Johnston’s 
44 Staff, was also slain. Col. Fisher 
44 —6th North Carolina—likewise 
44 fell, after soldierly behavior, at 
44 the head of his regiment, with 
44 ranks greatly thinned.” Then 
again, further on, he says: 44 Pres- 
44 ton’s Regiment, of Cocke’s Bri- 


Gen. Bee. 
















22 


FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUK 


4 gade, had by that time entered 
‘ the same body of oaks,* and en- 
4 countered some Michigan troops, 

4 capturing their Brigade Comman- 
1 der, Col. Wilcox. Another im- 
4 portant acquisition to our forces 
4 had also occurred about the same 
4 time, 3:00 P. M. Brigadier Gen. 

4 E. K. Smith with some 1,700 in- 
4 fan try of Elzey’s Brigade of the 
4 Army of the Shenandoah, and 
4 Beckham’s Battery came upon the 
4 field from Camp Pickens, Manas- 
4 sas, where they had arrived by 
4 railroad at noon. Directed in per- 
4 son by Gen. Johnston to the left, 

4 then so much endangered, on 
4 reaching a position in the rear of 
4 the oak woods south of the Henry 
4 House, and immediately east of 
4 the Sudley Road Gen. Smith was 
4 disabled by a severe wound, and 
4 his valuable services were lost at 
4 that critical juncture.” Then a 
little further on follows a descrip¬ 
tion of the final causes which led to 
the retreat of the Northern army : 
44 At this time, about 3:30, P. M., 
44 the enemy driven back on their 
44 left and center and brushed from 








V-/\ 

S 5 v % 

’’c 



Gen. Jubal A. Early. 


*On the extreme left of the Confederate 
position. 


the woods south and west of the 
Henry House, had formed a line 
of battle of truly formidable pro¬ 
portions of crescent outline * * * 
It was a truly magnificent though 
redoubtable spectacle as they 
threw forward in fine style on the 
broad gentle slopes of the ridge 
occupied by their main lines, a 
cloud of skirmishers, preparatory 
for another attack. But as Early 
formed his line, and Beckham’s 
pieces played upon the right of 
the enemy, Elzey’s Brigade, Gib¬ 
bon’s 10th Virginia, Lieut. Col. 
Stuart’s 1st Maryland, and Vaugh¬ 
an’s 3rd Tennessee Regiments, and 
Cash’s 8th and Kershaw’s 2nd 
South Carolina, Withers’ 18th and 
Preston’s 28th Virginia, advanced 
in an irregular line, almost simul¬ 
taneously, with great spirit from 
their several positions, upon the 
front and flanks of the enemy, in 
their quarter of the field. At the 
same time, too, Early resolutely 
assailed their right flank and rear. 
Under this combined attack, the 
enemy was soon forced, first over 
the narrow plateau in the southern 
44 angle made by the two roads 
°ten mentioned, into a patch 
ol woods on its western slope, 
44 thence back over Young’s 
44 Branch and the Turnpike into 
44 fields of the Dogan Farm, and 
44 rearward in extreme disorder, 
44 in all available directions, to- 
44 wards Bull Run. The rout had 
44 now become general and com¬ 
plete. * * * * Col. Radford, 
44 with six companies of Virginia 
44 cavalry; was also ordered by 
44 Gen. Johnston to cross Bull 
44 Run and attack the enemy from 
44 the direction of Lewis’s House ; 
44 conducted by one of my Aids, 
44 Colonel Chisholm, by the Lewis 
44 Ford, to the immediate vicinity 
44 of the Suspension Bridge, he 
44 charged a battery with great 
4 4 gallantry, took Colonel Corco- 
44 ran, of the 69th regiment New 
York Volunteers, a prisoner, and 
captured the Federal colors of 


L, »fC. 








FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUK. 


23 


that regiment, as well as a num- 
44 ber of the enemy.” 

Borrowing the words of a corres¬ 
pondent of the Louisville Court r, 
writing from Manassas on the day 
following the battle, we would say : 

41 Thus was the day won and the 
4 ‘ long bright Sabbath closed ; a 
” lovely full moon looking down 
44 calmly and peacefully upon the 
44 bloodiest field that the continent 
“ of America ever witnessed of 
course, keeping in mind at the same 
time the numbers engaged, and the 
date at which the letter was written. 

Much comment has been made as 
to the failure of the Southern army 
to continue the pursuit of the enemy 
to Washington and to take advan¬ 
tage of their general demoralization 
to effect an entrance into their capi¬ 
tal. It will be in place, therefore, 
to direct attention to the reasons of¬ 
fered by the two Confederate gen¬ 
erals commanding on that day. The 
following is extracted from the offi¬ 
cial report of Gen. Johnston : 44 A 

44 report came to me from the right 
4 4 that a strong body of United States 
44 troops were advancing upon Ma- 
44 nassas. Gen. Holmes, who >• J 
44 just reached the field, a' 

44 Ewell on his way to it, were or- 
44 dered to meet this unexpected at- 
44 tack. They found no foe, how- 
44 ever. Our victory was as com- 
44 plete as one gained by infantry 
44 and artillery can be. An ade- 
44 quate force of cavalry would have 
44 made it decisive.” 

Gen. Beauregard gives the same 
explanation, adding that in the re¬ 
turn of the forces of Gen. D. R. 
Jones to this side of Bull Run, which 
they had crossed to make an attack 
upon the portion of the Union forces 
stationed in that vicinity, his men 
were mistaken, on account of the 
similarity of their uniforms, for 


those of the enemy. He then con¬ 
tinues by saying that in addition to 
the commands of Generals Ewell 
and Holmes which were ordered to 
retrace their steps towards Manas¬ 
sas, the pursuing columns were re¬ 
called to meet this unexpected new 
attack. When the error was dis¬ 
covered the night had already set 
in, and the men were found to be 
too much exhausted to be capable of 
a further march before having food 
and rest. We may observe, there¬ 
fore, that the failure to advance upon 
the Northern capital can be reduced 
to three principal causes : False 
alarm of an attack on the extreme 
right, lack of sufficient cavalry, and 
the extreme exhaustion of the 
men. 

On the other hand, the Northern 
authorities on the First Battle of 
Bull Run are by no means willing 
to concede that in the event that the 
Southern army had pushed the pur¬ 
suit further, they would have been 
successful in dispersing all the forces 
that could have been opposed to 
their advance. They maintain with 
a very good show of reason that 

ere remained in the first place 
uough of their army which took 
part in the battle itself, such as 
Sykes’ Battalion of regulars and sev¬ 
eral regiments which had preserved 
their organization intact and which 
could have offered a very respecta¬ 
ble resistance to whatever forces the 
Southerners could have advanced 
against them ; and, further, that^fc. 
two whole divisions, one between 
Centerville and the fords leading to 
Manassas under Col. Miles, and the 
other between Centerville and Vi¬ 
enna, under Gen. Runyon, both of 
which took little or no part in the 
battle, and which were, therefore, 
in condition to be used to oppose the 
pursuit of the Confederates. 


INTERESTING ADDITIONAL INCIDENTS AND OPINIONS. 


The 49th Va. Regiment, com¬ 
manded by Col. Wm. Smith, which 
took part in the First Battle of Bull 
Run, had been brought together 
only three or four days before the 
battle, and was composed of three 
companies. As they had no car¬ 
tridge-boxes they carried their am¬ 
munition in their trousers’ pockets. 


The following incident, related in 
the official report of Col. Gorman of 
the 1st Minn. Regiment, illustrates 
the coolness and indifference to dan¬ 
ger exhibited by Col. Heintzelman 
during the battle : “On arriving at 
“ the point indicated, being the ex- 
44 treme left of the enemy and the 
“ extreme right of our line, and in 
“ advance of all other of our troops, 
“ and where I was informed offici- 
“ ally that two other regiments had 
“ declined to charge, we formed a 
“ line of battle, our right resting 
“ within a few feet of the woods 
“ and the left at and around Rick- 
44 etts’ battery and upon the crest of 
44 the hill, within fifty or sixty feet 
“ of the enemy’s line of infantry, 
44 with whom we could have readily 
44 conversed in an ordinary tone of 
44 voice. Immediately upon Rick- 
44 etts’ battery coming into position 
44 and we in ‘line of battle,’ Col. 
44 Heintzelman rode up between our 
44 lines and that of the enemy, with- 
44 in pistol shot of each, which cir- 
44 cumstance staggered my judg- 
44 ment whether those in front were 
44 friends or enemies, it being equally 
44 manifest that the enemy were in 
44 the same dilemma as to our iden- 
4 4 tity. But a few seconds, however, 
44 undeceived both—they displaying 
44 the rebel and we the Union flag. 
44 Instantly a blaze of fire was 
44 poured into the faces of the com- 
44 batants, each producing terrible 


44 destruction, owing to the close 
44 proximity of the forces,” etc. 


One of Stonewall Jackson’s staff’ 
in an article contributed to one of 
the magazines, has rendered equally 
tribute to the conduct of the same 
officer. He writes as follows in re¬ 
ferring to the attack on Ricketts’ 
and Griffin’s batteries: “Three 

“ times did our regiment charge up 
44 to and take this battery, but never 
44 could hold it, for though we drove 
44 away the regiment supporting it, 
44 yet another was always close be- 
44 hind to take its place. A gray- 
44 haired man, sitting sideways on 
44 horseback, whom I understoou to 
44 be General Heintzelman. was ever 
44 in one spot, directing the move- 
44 ments of each regiment as it came 
44 up the hill, and his coolness and 
44 gallantry won our admiration.” 


Again in the same article, refer¬ 
ring to the moment of arrival of his 
command, he says : 4 ‘Reaching the 

44 top, a wide clearing was discov¬ 
ered; a broad table land spread 
44 out, the pine thicket ceased, and 
44 far away over the hill in front 
44 was the smoke of musketry, at 
44 the bottom of a long declivity was 
44 the famous turnpike, and on the 
44 hills beyond could be seen clearly 
44 Griffin’s and Ricketts’ batteries. 
44 In their front, to their rear and 
44 supported on each side were long 
44 lines of blue. To our right, about 
44 one hundred yards off, was a small 
44 building, the celebrated ‘Henry 
44 House.’ ” 


In a letter to the Richmond En- 







FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 


25 


quiver, written by one who had vis¬ 
ited the battlefield about a week 
after the occurrence of the first 
battle, in speaking of the Henry 
House, he makes the following 
remarks : “A house here, late 
“ the abode of a widow lady— 
“ Mrs. Judith Henry—was riddled 
“ with musket shot. Hissing pro¬ 
jectiles from the cannon of our 
“ enemies had passed through the 
“ walls and roof until the dwelling 
u was a wreck. It is a sad story 
“ that we tell. This estimable lady, 
“ who had spent her long life illus- 
“ trated by the graces that adorn 
“ the meek Christian, was now bed- 
“ rid. There she lay amid the hor- 
“ rid din, and no less than three of 
“ the missiles of death that scoured 
“ through her chamber, inflicted 
“ their wounds upon her. It seems 
“ a strange dispensation of Provi- 
“ dence that one whose life had been 
“ so gentle and secluded, should 
“ have found her end amid such a 
“ storm of human passion,” etc. 


The following article to the Balto. 
Sun deserves attention for its gen¬ 
eral accuracy : 

“ So much has been said and writ- 
“ ten erroneously concerning the 
“ ‘killing of a woman’ in the old 
“ Henry House at the first battle of 
“ Manassas, July 21, 1861, as to 
“ make a recital of the actual facts 
“ in the case of deep interest to 
“ both the misinformed and the un- 
“ informed, to which end, I trust, 
“ you will publish in the far-reach- 
“ ing Sun the following true account 
“ of that most lamentable occur- 
“ rence : In the beautiful lawn, dis- 
“ tant perhaps not more than fifty 
“ feet from the site of the original, 
“ historic, old Henry House, which 
“ was literally riddled with shot and 
“ shell and the lesser missiles as 
“ well, in that deadly strife, is now 
“ well preserved and handsomely 
“ adorned with shrub and vine and 
“ the wild ivy blossom, a grave, at 
“ the head of which stands erect a 


“ large white marble slab, the let- 
“ tering of which reads as follows : 
“ ‘ The grave of our dear mother, 
“ ‘Judith Henry; killed near this 
“ ‘ spot by the explosion of shells in 
“ ‘ her dwelling, during the battle 
“ ‘ of the 21st of July, 1861. When 
“ ‘ killed she was in her eighty-fifth 
“ ‘year, and confined to her bed by 
“ ‘the infirmities of age. She was 
“ ‘the daughter of Landon Carter, 
“ ‘Sr., and was born within a mile 
“ ‘ of this place. Her husband, Dr. 

‘ ‘ ‘ Isaac Henry, was a surgeon in 
“ ‘ the United States Navy, on board 
“ ‘the frigate Constellation, com- 
“ ‘ manded by Commodore Truxton. 
“ ‘ one of the six captains appointed 
“ ‘ by Washington in the organiza- 
“ ‘ tion of the navy, 1794. Our 
“‘mother through her long life, 

‘ ‘ ‘ thirty-five years of which were 
“ ‘spent at this place, was greatly 
“ ‘ loved and esteemed for her kind, 
“ ‘ gentle and Christian spirit.’ The 
“ above inscription gives the correct 
“ narrative of the sad death of the 
“ estimable old lady, in reading and 
“ pondering over which recently, 
“ thirty-eight years after my own 
“ hair-breadth escape from death in 
“ that frightful and never-to-be-for- 
“ gotten charge of my old Stonewall 
‘‘ Brigade within a stone’s throw of 
“ the agonizing scene of that aged 
“ lady’s death, I could but reflect 
“ how inscrutable, indeed, were the 
“ ways of Providence in that dread 
“ catastrophe ! Her grandson, of 
“ less than middle age, who now oc- 
“ cupies the present house on the 
“ immediate site of the old house, 
“ related to me all the particulars. 
“ Only a hundred yards or so from 
“ the house is still an old depression, 
“ or excavation, of the depth of 
“ several feet, now used as a water- 
“ ing pond for the cattle, to which 
“ Mrs. Henry was borne for safety 
“ at the beginning of the battle, but 
“ it being found without protection, 
“ she was borne back to the old 
“ house and placed in bed, where 
“ she was shot in four places and 
“ almost instantly killed,” etc. 




26 


FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 


In an article in the Washington 
Post , Joaquin Miller says : “ This 

“ first battle of Bull Run stands 
“ first in the alphabet of great Amer- 
“ ican battles. Greater battles have 
“ been fought, a greater battle, in- 
“ deed, on this same ground, but 
“ the first has fastened itself upon 
“ us. There is a savage fascination 
“ about it which we who lived on 
“ that day cannot escape.” 


Extract from the testimony of 
Gen. W. W. Averill before the Con¬ 
gressional Investigating Committee 
on the Conduct of the War, in which 
reference is made to the topographi¬ 
cal feature^bf the rfenry House hill 
as a battlefield. 

“ Question.—Was not the nature 
“ of the battlefield such that it was 
“ exceedingly difficult to bring a 
“ large body of men into action at 
“ any one time ? 

“ Answer.—I think it was about 
“ as fine a battlefield as you can 
“ find between here and Richmond. 
“ I have no idea there was any 
“ better. 

“ Question.—Was the field favor- 
“ able for the movement and ma- 
“ noeuvring of large bodies of men ? 

“ Answer.—One or two divisions 
“ of the size we had then could 
“ manoeuvre very well.” 


Among the many references to the 
Henry House hill in the official re¬ 
ports of Gens. Johnston and Beau¬ 
regard are the following relating to 
its appropriateness as a battle¬ 
ground : 

Gen. Beauregard says: “From 
“ the open ground of this plateau 
“ the view embraces a wide expanse 
“ of woods and gently undulating 
“ open country of broad grass and 
“ qfrain fields in all directions, in- 
“ eluding the scene of Evans’ and 
“ Bee’s recent encounter with the 
“ enemy, some twelve hundred yards 
“ to the northward.” 


Gen. Johnston writes: “Gen. 
“ Bee, moving towards the enemy, 
“ guided by the firing, had, with a 
“ soldiers eye, selected the position 
“ near the Henry House, and formed 
“ his troops upon it.” 


• In the year 1892 this battlefield 
was visited by the G. A. R., and af¬ 
ter a verification of the historical 
spots marked on the field, caused 
tablets to be erected with the fol¬ 
lowing inscriptions : 

“ Colonel Cameron was killed here, 
July 21st, 1861.” 

“ Lieutenant Ramsay of Ricketts’ 
Battery was killed here, 

July 21st, 1861.” 

“ Here Jackson was wounded and 
got the title of ‘Stonewall.’ ” 

“ General Bee was killed here, July 
21st, 1861.” 

“ Colonel Bartow was killed here, 
July 21st, 1861.” 

“ Colonel Thomas, of Jos. E. John¬ 
ston’s staff, was killed here, 

July 21st, 1861.” 

“ Col. Fisher, of the 6th N. C. Reg¬ 
iment, was killed here, 

July 21st, 1861 ” 

“ Lieutenant Mangum, of the 6th 
N. C. Regiment, was killed 
here, July 21st, 1861.” 

“ Location of the Cavalry Charge on 
Fire Zouaves, July 21st, 1861. 

“ Wade Hampton was wounded 
here, July 21st, 1861. 


Distant about two hundred yards 
from the Henry House, in a consid¬ 
erable ravine, is a very large and 
deep spring, supplied by perennial 






FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 


27 


rams. In the advance of the North¬ 
ern columns to the Henry House 
plateau from the scene of the open¬ 
ing encounter, several of the regi¬ 
ments passed by this spring, which 
was to them an inestimable blessing 
on that scorching July day. So 
great, however, was the press of the 
hundreds of men with parched 
throats that it was temporarily 


emptied. Through the years which 
have followed the War, not a few of 
the visitors to the battlefield be¬ 
longed to those regiments, and their 
first question is not where such or 
such command was posted during 
the battle, but where that spring is, 
the cool and limpid waters of which 
were so deeply graven on their 
minds. 


ORGANIZATION OF THAT PART OF GEN. MCDOWELL’S ARMY WHICH TOOK 
PART IN THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 


[The lists which follow are as complete as the records at the disposal of the 
compiler have permitted.] 


1st Division 
Gen. Dan’l Tyler 


f 1st Brigade— 

Col. E. D. Keyes 


2nd Brigade— 

Gen. Rob’t Schenck 

1 


3rd Brigade— 

Col. W. T. Sherman 


f 1st Conn. Rgt—Lt. Col. Speidal 
) 2nd “ “ Col. Terrv 

I 3rd “ “ Col. Chatfield 

[ 2nd Maine “ Col. Jameson 

1st Ohio Rgt—Col. McCook 
2nd “ “ Lt. Col. Mason 

2nd N. Y. “ Col. Tompkins 
Carlisle’s Battery—six brass guns 
[ 1 30-pounder—Lt. Haines 

13th N. Y. Rgt—Col. Quimby 
69th “ “ Col. Corcoran 

- 79th “ “ Col. Cameron 

2nd Wis. “ Lt. Col. Peck 
Ayres’ Battery—six guns 


4th Brigade— 

I Col. Richardson 


Before Blackburn’s Ford 


2nd Division 
Col. D. Hunter 


r isb Brigade— 

Col. Andrew Porter 




2nd^rigade— 

L Col. A. E. Burnside 


' 27th N. Y. Rgt—Col. Slocum 
14th “ “ Col. Wood 

8th “ “ Col. Lyons 

Battalion of Reg’l’rs, Maj. Sykes 
“ “ Marines, “ Reynolds 

Griffin’s Battery, six guns 

' 1st R. I. Rgt—Mai. Balch 
2nd “ “ Col. Slocum 

71st N. Y. “ Col. Martin 

{ 2nd N. H. “ Col. Marston 
I 2nd R. I. Battery—six guns 
I 2 boat howitzers with 71st N. Y. 
[ Regiment 












28 


FIRST BATTLE 01 BULL RUN. 


Organization of Gen. McDowell’s Army—Concluded. 


f ist Minn. Rgt—Col Gorman 

r ist Brigade— J 5th Mass. “- 

Col. W. B. Franklin ] nth “ 

[_ Ricketts’ Battery—six guns 


3rd Division 
Col. S. P. Heintzelman 


2nd Brigade 
Col. O. B. Wilcox 


r ist Mich Rgt—- 

nth N. Y. “ (Fire Zouaves) 

*{ Col. Farnham 

j 38th N. Y. Rgt Col. Ward 
l Arnold’s Battery—4 guns 


3rd Brigade 
l Col. O. O. Howard 


{ 4th Maine Rgt—Col. Berry 
5th “ ‘‘ Col. Dunnell 

2nd Vermont Rgt—Col. Whiting 


ORGANIZATION OF THE ARMY UNDER GEN. BEAUREGARD AT THE FIRST 
BATTLE OF BULL RUN, WITH POSITION BEFORE 
COMMENCEMENT OF BATTLE. 


Ewell’s Brigade 
(before Union Mills Ford) 


D. R. Jones’ Brigade 
(before McLean's Ford) 


Longstreet’s Brigade 
(before Blackburn’s Ford) 


Bonham’s Brigade 
(before Mitchell’s Ford 


Cocke’s Brigade 
(before the fords between 
Mitchell’s and the Stone 
Bridge 


Evans’ Demi-Brigade 
(before Stone Bridge and re¬ 
porting to Gen. Cocke 


f 5th Ala. Rgt—.Col. Rodes 

! 6th “ “.Col. Siebel 

! 6th La. “.Col. Seymour 

‘ 4 12-pounder howitzers of Walton’s Battery 
Harrison’s, Green’s and Cabell’s companies of Va. 
cavalry 


f 5th So. Car. Rgt— ... Col. Jenkins 

I 17th Miss. “ - - - - Col. Burt 

•{ 18th “ “ - - - Col. Fetherstone 

| 2 guns from Walton’s Battery 
L 1 company of cavalry 

f ist Ya. Rgt— .... Col. Moore 

nth “ “ - - - - - Col. Garland 

I 17th “ “ .... Col. Corse 

•{ 24th “ “.Lt. Col. Hairston 

I 5th N. C. “ .... Col. Jones 

I 2 guns from Walton’s Battery 
l Whitehead’s company Ya. cavalry 


' 2nd So. Car. Rgt— ... Col. Kershaw 

3rd Lt. Col. Williams 

7th “ “ “ ... Col. Bacon 

, 8th Col. Cash 

I Shield’s and Del. Kemper’s Batteries—probably eight 
guns. Flood’s, Radford’s, Payne’s, Ball’s, Wick¬ 
ham’s and Powell’s companies of Va. cavalry, com- 
L manded by Col. Radford 

8th Ya. Rgt— - Col. Hunton 

18th “ “ .... Col. Withers 

19th “ “ - - - - Lt. Col. Strange 

{ 28th “ “ .... Col. R* T. Preston 

| 49th “ “ .... Col. Wm. Smith 

I Latham’s Battery—4 guns 
l 1 company Va. cavalry 


r 4th So. Car. Rgt- .... Col. Sloane 
J Battalion La. Tigers - Maj. Wheat 

I 4 six-pounder guns 
L 2 companies Ya. cavalry 











FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 


29 


Organization of Gen. Beauregard’s Army—Concluded. 

Early’s Brigade f 7th Ya. Rgt— .... Col. Kemper 

^in reserve in rear of Mitch- J 7th La. “.Col. Hays 

ell’s, Blackburn’s and Me- j 13th Miss. “ .... Col. Barksdale 

Lean’s Fords [ 3 guns of Walton’s Battery 

Holmes’ Brigade f 2nd Tenn. Rgt— - - 

(was called from Aquia Creek j 1st Ark. “ - - 

to join Gen. Beauregard) ( 

Hampton’s Legion, 600 strong, came up from Richmond shortly before the bat¬ 
tle, to join Beauregard’s army. 


ORGANIZATION OF GEN. JOHNSTON’S ARMY, UNITED WITH THAT OF GEN. 

BEAUREGARD AT MANASSAS. 


Jackson’s Brigade 


Bee’s Brigade 


Bartow’s Brigade 


Elzey’s Brigade 


Regiments not brigaded 


f 

\ 


2nd Va. Rgt— 
4th “ 

5th “ “ 

27th “ “ 

33rd “ “ 


*Col. Allen 

- Col. Jas. F. Preston 
Col. Harper 

- Lt. Col. Echols 
Col. Cummings 


r 4th Ala. Rgt—Col. Jones 

•j 2nd Miss. “ Col. Falkner 

1 nth “ “ Lt. Col. Liddell (only 2 comp’s) 

f 7th Ga. Rgt— - - Col. Gartrell 

\ 8th “ “ - - - Lt. Col. Gardner 

( Imboden’s Battery—six guns 


10th Ya. Rgt— .... Col. Gibbon 

1st Md. “ - - - - - Lt. Col. Stuart 

3rd Tenn. “ .... Col. Vaughan 


f 8th La. Rgt— .... Col. Kelley 

J 6th N. C. “.Col. Fisher 

1 nth “ .... Col. Kirkland 

L 13th Va. “.Col. A. P. Hill 








SECOND BATTLE OF BULL RUN 


h 


As if the grim Spectre of Death 
had not found upon these hills suffi¬ 
cient victims on that memorable 21st 
day of July, 1861, Dame Fortune 
destined that he should have another 
equally sanguinary feast on the 28th, 
29th and 30th of August, 1862, 
known as the Second Battle of Bull 
Run. The extent of ground over 
which this battle stretched was very 
much more considerable than that 
of the First Battle of Bull Run. By 
a curious reversal of roles, it was 
the Northern troops that this time 
held the Henry House hill on the 
30th, where they made a last stand 
in an effort to check the ever increas¬ 
ing pressure of the enemy, and to 
the Southerners was the task to dis¬ 
lodge them. Generals Sykes and 
Reynolds occupied with their com¬ 
mands the plateau around the Henry 
House, which in the First Battle 


they had assisted as subordinate 
officers in the effort to drive finally 
from it the Confederate forces ; and 
it fell to Longstreet in this last bat¬ 
tle to capture the position held by 
the Federals. It was a fierce and 
desperate struggle. The result is 
known. To borrow the words of a 
writer in the Century Magazine under 
date of January, 1886: “ Then 

“ came the struggle for the Henry 
“ House hill, the plateau which was 
“ the scene of the hardest fighting 
“ in the First Bull Run. It was 
“ bristling with the guns of Rey- 
“ nolds’ and Reno’s, and of Sykes’ 
“ regulars. The enemy made a vig- 
‘ ‘ orous attack. At last darkness, 
“ the succor of armies hard pressed, 
“ came.” It was under cover of 
the darkness that the Northern 
troops withdrew from the position. 




































































































































































































































































































































































































































































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